NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Michael Rosales, coach of the Texas Catch Wrestling Club.

We spoke with him by phone Thursday.

"We are a catch wrestling club that we practice in the art and we compete whenever we can find actual catch matches," he said. "If not, we're competing in mixed martial arts or regular grappling tournaments."

He also noted that the club was actually "established in 2001, which makes us one of the oldest clubs of the neo-catch movement."

The next catch wrestling tournament in which wrestlers from the Texas Catch Wrestling Club will compete is the Monolith Grapplings Arts Catch Wrestling Tournament. Sanctioned by the ISWA (International Submission Wrestling Alliance), this tournament takes place Saturday, May 31, at Eastside Austin Elite MMA and Fitness, 507 Calles Street, Austin, Texas 78702.

While the Texas Catch Wrestling Club is currently based in Corpus Christi, Texas, we also discussed their plans to open a new, major facility in Houston.

Calling catch wrestling "a piece of our Americana," he discussed the style that is emphasized at Texas Catch Wrestling, how they teach wrestling as a martial art first and a sport second, and how they have been introducing the use of the pin to grapplers from other styles. Compared to those other styles, he said, catch is faster and "more exciting to watch."

We also discussed the current revival of catch wrestling, how it signifies that "a piece of American history is being brought back," what catch wrestling needs to do to continue to grow, and much more.

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Labels: catch-as-catch-can, Corpus Christi, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Michael Rosales, MMA, No Holds Barred, submissions, Texas Catch Wrestling Club